The district, which handles flood control and leads Everglades restoration, in December drew the ire of environmental groups and billboard opponents when it agreed to allow large electronic signs to spread to publicly-owned land throughout South Florida.

The billboard move, encouraged by the Florida Legislature, was billed as a way to raise money by allowing advertisements positioned on district land beside roads, canals and other high-traffic areas.

But “extensive public input” and opposition from local governments prompted the district to back away from the billboard proposal, the agency announced Tuesday.

“Because of this feedback, the District has determined it is in the public’s best interest to reject all current bids and will not accept other solicitations at this time,” the district said in a statement released Tuesday.

The district owns more than 1 million acres from Orlando to the Keys.

The Florida Legislature opened the door to the spread of billboards on district land by exempting the agency from needing local government or Florida Department of Transportation approvals to build billboards, which lawmakers referred to as “public information systems.”

The deals with advertisers were to require that the district receive about 30 percent of advertising revenues from the billboards and get about 5 percent of the display time for public service announcements.

The water management district needs to stay focused on Everglades restoration, water supply and flood protection, according to Audubon of Florida.

“Water managers don’t have time to spare for billboard management,” Jane Graham of Audubon said.